Mr. Speaker, each new day brings new revelations about the former public works minister.

The minister should know that attending an event organized by an entrepreneur who just won a $9 million government contract was not a good idea. But he went anyway. He and Mr. Sauvé discussed the contract for 10 minutes. He even congratulated him.

Do there need to be more revelations before he resigns? Why is the minister still in the cabinet?

John BairdConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I think we have addressed this in previous questions. What I can say is that the minister has given great detail with respect to the issues involving the individual in question.

I can say that this government's first order of business was to pass the Federal Accountability Act, tough ethics reform, tough anti-corruption measures. We eliminated the role of big money in politics; we eliminated corporations, unions and $5,000 donations. Now we have a more open, transparent and ethical campaign finance system.

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing new about monkey business at the Department of Public Works, but the former minister makes Roch LaSalle smell like a spring day: tampering with access to information requests, rigging government contracts, shady kickbacks to grateful contractors. It was his department, on his watch and he is responsible as the minister. The buck stops with him.

The member for Simcoe—Grey was politically executed for the flimsiest of innuendo. Why is the minister still in cabinet when he was caught red-handed?

John BairdConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, the fury and bluster of the member opposite, while entertaining, is not factual.

Let us be very clear. We brought in the Federal Accountability Act. It imposes tough obligations on a variety of people in government and outside government. If there are any issues that are of concern, people who break the rules should face the full force of the law because that is how it is in this country.

Mr. Speaker, there is a disturbing video running on the Internet. It calls our Canadian military “canon fodder”. This video has outraged Canadian military families, particularly those who have lost sons and daughters. They have considered it an insult and disrespectful of the careers chosen by their children.

Laurie HawnConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, I proudly wore the uniform of the Canadian Forces for over 30 years and I can tell members it is an honourable calling and career.

Our men and women fighting in Afghanistan are performing incredible work under difficult circumstances. They are fighting to bring security to the Afghan people. They are fighting so that young girls can go to school. They are fighting so that women can see a doctor for health care.

This video is outrageous fiction by irresponsible individuals who should be ashamed of themselves. I know Canadians are proud of our brave and courageous members of the Canadian Forces.

Mr. Speaker, in 2005, a crab management plan for crab fishing areas 23 and 24 was put into place that fishers felt would bring long-term sustainability and stability to the area.

A fifty-fifty sharing mechanism was to be triggered when the total allowable catch reached 9,700 tonnes. However, once that number was reached, the minister chose not to honour this agreement and maintained the 60-40 formula which favoured 40 fishers while disadvantaging over 700.

Randy KampConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, I welcome my colleague to his new role as the fisheries and oceans critic.

The decision he refers to was made after considerable discussion with a number of stakeholders, all stakeholders in fact. Various sharing options were considered. This one was implemented based on the principle of equity. The process was fair and open. The majority of participants support this decision, and this is the decision that we are staying with. Changing this decision would destabilize the industry, and we do not plan to do that.

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois's Bill C-395 was adopted at second reading by a majority in this House. It aims to correct an aberration in the Employment Insurance Act in order to ensure that the weeks of a labour dispute are not used to calculate benefits. The workers at Lebel-sur-Quévillon would have benefited from this bill.

Does the government intend to grant a royal recommendation to this bill so that it continues on to the Senate?

Ed KomarnickiConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour

Mr. Speaker, of course we would take an impartial position with respect to the bill. The government does not interfere in specifics like strike action and capping those days. Both employers and employees contribute to the program. It would be improper for us to involve ourselves in that area.

Mr. Speaker, like most members of Parliament, I am very proud of the hard-working police on Parliament Hill. They maintain a respectful balance between national security while maintaining an open public space for Canadians. Yet yesterday, the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary thumbed his nose at the police and committed a major flagrant breach.

The government seems to think rules are for other people: zero tolerance for citizens; queue jumping for ministers.

We know the member was caught and publicly spanked, but will the government take responsibility and send a clear message that it does not tolerate that abusive attitude from its ministers?

John BairdConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP officers on Parliament Hill work hard. They have a difficult responsibility and they do an outstanding job. They deserve our full support.

The member in question has spoken to this. I should point out that the member is a hard-working member. He delivers for his constituency. He makes an excellent contribution to this place and is a big asset to the government.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal public safety critic continues to side with criminals. First he talked about dramatically cutting sentences, and now he wants to delay our legislation to eliminate accelerated parole with a cost analysis.

Victims already know the true cost of crime. When will the Liberals do what is right and commit to keeping criminals behind bars?

Randy KampConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, this decision was made very carefully by the previous minister.

All stakeholders were involved in this. The process was fair and open. The majority of participants supported this decision where an equal share of the quota would go to all licences.

This was a decision made in equity, and in our opinion and as the minister has reviewed this decision, it is our conclusion that reconvening a panel would accomplish nothing and would destabilize the industry.

Mr. Speaker, fall is here and heating costs are becoming a big concern for seniors and families across our country.

The eco-energy home energy retrofit program helped a lot. It created jobs. It cut greenhouse gas emissions. It reduced home heating costs. The government admitted that it worked and then it killed the program.

Will the government come to its senses and bring back a national home energy retrofit program to help Canadians this winter?

Mr. Speaker, the crime rate is going down, but the government insists on imposing its repressive version of justice that will cost Quebec and the provinces billions of dollars just to expand the prison system.

Instead of being blinded by his ideology, should the minister not invest in the targeted, rational, prevention-based measures that have been much more effective in fighting crime than the minister's elementary, partisan approach?

Dave MacKenzieConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to keeping law-abiding Canadian families safe in their homes, on their streets and in their communities. That means keeping dangerous criminals behind bars where they belong.

Our Conservative government is proud to be on the right side of the issue, the side of law-abiding Canadians and the side of victims who want justice.

Deepak ObhraiConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, under section 32(2) of the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, I have the pleasure to table, in both official languages, the treaties entitled: Exchange of Letters concerning an amendment of Annex V to the Agreement between the European Community and the Government of Canada on sanitary measures to protect public and animal health in respect of trade in live animals and animal products, done at Brussels on March 22 and April 16, 2010; Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of India for Co-operation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, done at Toronto on June 27, 2010; Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Canada Contributing Resources to the United Nations - African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), done at New York on July 9, 2009; Exchange of Notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America constituting an Agreement extending the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America providing for Coordination of the Icebreaking Activities of Canada and the United States on the Great Lakes, done at Ottawa on December 5, 1980.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House of Commons, representing the people of Timmins—James Bay, seconded by my colleague from Nickel Belt, and representatives of the rural caucus of the New Democratic Party, to introduce a bill that we feel will finally end the poisonous, divisive politics around gun policy in this country.

Specifically, the bill lays out a way to start moving forward with gun policy that respects the cultural rights of rural citizens. It ensures that rural citizens are not left to feel like criminals and it contains audit processes to ensure that Canadians are getting accountability for the dollars that are being spent. But also, and this is very important, we need to have gun policy in this country that ensures that guns are not able to get into the country and end up on the black market, guns that should never be classified as sports hunting guns, which are now getting in through some of the loopholes in the system, a gun such as the Ruger Mini-14. That is not something that a legitimate duck hunter or farmer would need.

We feel that unless we come together as parliamentarians to address gun policy in this country, we will continue to leave citizens at risk while creating further and further frustration in rural Canada.

We are very proud to present the bill. We are interested in working with our colleagues. This is the beginning, I believe, of a long-term consultation to move us off the politics of fear and move us towards the politics of developing good gun policy that respects Canadians and ensures that we have a progressive policy for guns in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition in support of Bill C-544. It is signed by hundreds of people from across Ontario.

The petitioners supporting Bill C-544 are concerned about the use of horse meat. They point out that horses are primarily kept for sports and companions and are not being raised primarily for food production. The petitioners also point out that, as part of the maintenance and keeping of horses, drugs are used and may complicate things when horses are in fact slaughtered and used for food production.

The petitioners are asking the House of Commons and Parliament to bring forward and adopt Bill C-544, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act, thus prohibiting the importation and exportation of horses for slaughter for human consumption, as well as horse meat products for human consumption.